Kona Gallagher
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Review: The Big Bang Theory - The Vengence Formulation
(S03E09) As soon as I read the episode info and saw that Kripke was going to be making an appearance, I lost all hope of this episode coming anywhere close to matching the brilliance of last week's. I was not wrong. I don't like Kripke. I don't find a speech impediment to be funny, and with him, it's completely extraneous. Sheldon could just have an enemy (I don't doubt he had many, in fact). You don't need to give the character this extra identifying mark.
So not only was I dismayed by Kripke's appearance, his practical joke was just mean-spirited and again, not something that I found funny. I don't like watching people getting humiliated. Sheldon dressed up for a radio interview. That's adorable, and then to not only be embarrassed for absolutely no reason in front of a national audience, but to have his friends laughing at him as well, just made me sad. Luckily, Wolowitz's uh, love triangle with Bernadette and Katee Sackhoff saved the episode for me.
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American Music Awards: J.Lo falls, Adam Lambert freaks out parents
I had the American Music Awards on last night in the background, and for the most part it looked like a pretty standard awards show: People wore pretty dresses, played pianos suspended by wires, wore more makeup than their wives (I'm looking at you, Keith Urban), and simulated oral sex. Wait-- what?Yeah, so for once, Lady Gaga's performance, which involved smashing a plate-glass window and setting a piano on fire wasn't the most interesting performance of the night. Instead, everyone is talking about two people: Jennifer Lopez and Adam Lambert. Lopez's unfortunate fall during her performance of "Louboutins" probably mortified her, but it wasn't the most awkward thing to happen during the ceremony. That distinction goes to American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert's decidedly non-family-friendly performance.
You can check out both videos after the jump.
Continue reading American Music Awards: J.Lo falls, Adam Lambert freaks out parents
Right now on Cinematical
The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:- Live Free or Die Hard on Blu-Ray for $7.99? I'm there. Check out that and other Best Buy Black Friday movie deals.
- I know Funny People didn't exactly kill at the box office, but I loved it. It's coming out on Blu-Ray soon, and Cinematical scored an interview with writer/director Judd Apatow to talk about it.
- Forbes came out with a list of the 10 most overpaid actors in Hollywood, and number 1 may surprise you.
- Cinematical wants this clip of Kevin Smith talking about the Twilight saga to be the last word on the matter. I agree.
- What do you think about Bones becoming a giant Avatar promo?
Review: Parks and Recreation - Hunting Trip
(S02E10) This episode is nice, because Leslie finally gets what she's wanted since the very beginning of the series: to be one of the guys. I know I talk about this a lot, but it's just because the writers have done such an exceptional job: I love how Leslie is actually competent in some areas, instead of being the bumbling fool they wrote her as at the beginning of the first season. When she says she's an excellent hunter, it's not just self-delusion: she's actually an excellent hunter. Well, we really don't see enough to determine whether or not she's "excellent," but she totally bagged a quail on her first try and she didn't shoot Ron in the head, so she's at least pretty good compared to the rest of her hunting party.
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Review: Castle - Love Me Dead
(S02E09) Oh, yet another "hooker with a heart of gold" story. She's putting herself through law school! She had dreams when she came to New York in a rusted out Beetle, only to have them dashed! Scarlet was such an annoyingly stereotypical character, that she was beginning to sour what was an otherwise enjoyable episode. But really, that's my fault. Because if I would have had more faith in the beauty that is Castle, then I would have known that things were not as they appeared.
That's what I ultimately ended up loving about this episode: it went along in such a predictable route: bring a suspect in during the first five minutes, then release him because it's the first five minutes and we obviously can't find out who the killer is for at least another 40 minutes or so. Have the hooker, but then make us see what a sweet girl she is. This episode of castle lulled the viewers into complacency by showing us things we've seen a million times before-- only to turn it all on its head.
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Review: The Big Bang Theory - The Adhesive Duck Deficiency
(S03E08) I'm going to just say it right up front: This was the best episode of the season so far, and is neck and neck with the Leonard Nimoy Christmas episode for title of "best episode ever." Though there were two very distinct stories going on here, they were both hilarious. Too often, when the group is separated, the B plot flounders. However, this week, while Raj, Leonard and Wolowitz in the desert wasn't quite as jaw-dropping as Sheldon grabbing Penny's boob(!), it was pretty damn hilarious.
So, about the desert: Pot cookies. It's amazing to me that something so cliched could end up being so unbelievably funny. While all three of the guys made me laugh, Raj was the real scene-stealer. From his threat to eat all of the lettuce in the world and make his rabbit subjects watch, to the American accent he uses to mock Wolowitz and Leonard, everything that came out of his mouth was pure comic gold.
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Review: Parks and Recreation - The Camel
(S02E09) It's nice to see an episode where everybody in the office (and Ann) is working together. They're usually broken up into their own smaller storylines, so people like Donna often get shoved into the background, if we see her at all. This time, she was front and center, along with Jesus Greg Kinnear, and Indiana's pride, Michael Jackson. Speaking of which-- American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert was born in Indianapolis, so he totally could have helped round out the table.
Jerry, another mainly background character, generally serves as the show's whipping boy, which I find really funny -- especially in the episode where they were all trying to dig up dirt on each other, and he found out he was adopted. Granted, that's pretty bad, but I still laughed. This time though, where they ridiculed him and dismissed his mural, it didn't really work for me.
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Review: Top Chef - Strip Around The World
(S06E11) This episode isn't about drama, stunts, or (gasp!) vegetarians. It is simply a case of "we have six chefs and we need to get down to five," so it kind of felt like a filler episode. The guest judge was Nigella Lawson, and while Nigella Lawson would be a welcome edition to any TV show, there just isn't a whole lot going on here.Although, I will say that the quickfire challenge probably provided foodie fantasy fodder worldwide, as it opened up with Padma in bed, wearing a robe with tousled hair -- and if that wasn't enough, we find that Nigella is also in a robe and in bed as well. Granted, they're different beds, but still: same room. The ostensible reason for this was to to a breakfast in bed Quickfire challenge, but come on-- they didn't have Tom Colicchio in that bed.
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Review: The Big Bang Theory - The Guitarist Amplification
(S03E07) While the actual plot points were different, didn't this episode seem a lot like last week's? You have Leonard trying to adapt to Penny's outside friends, Raj and Wolowitz marginalized and forced into a weird couples' spat, and Sheldon pretty much carrying the comedy load with his recollections of growing up in Texas.
I'm glad that they're showing Leonard and Penny in an actual relationship and not just finding contrived reasons for them to break up, but as far as relationship storylines go, this was a pretty boring one. I'm kind of on Leonard's side with this one, and believe me, I know how little fights can devolve into something ridiculous, but this whole fight thing was just really shrill and not entertaining.
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Right now on Cinematical
The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:- Con: Another vampire movie. Pro: It involves Clueless director Amy Heckerling and Krysten Ritter from Veronica Mars and Breaking Bad. I'm so conflicted!
- Good thing Ian McKellen is so graceful, otherwise, he probably would have drop-kicked Elisabeth Hasselbeck during his recent appearance on The View.
- Is it just me, or does The Men Who Stare at Goats look amazing? See if it lives up to the hype by reading Cinematical's review.
- Cinematical takes a look at some of the best and worst biopics, and I really enjoy the ones on the "best" list. Of course, I also love a few on the worst list, like Evita.
- I really want to see Precious, but I'm also terrified of it. Oprah told me I need to go see it though, and I don't like to defy Oprah. You can read Cinematical's review of Precious here.
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